


You Call Unexpected

by Chanonvic



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), mention of Tony’s death, mention of pets dying, relevant reference to tik tok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:55:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25007311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chanonvic/pseuds/Chanonvic
Summary: Rhodey didn't think of it as sacrifice, per se, but as the reality of their lives. Carol – Captain Marvel – belonged in the stars. War Machine belonged on Earth. Those were the lots they drew in life, and he was infinitely grateful to find someone who understood that as well as he had.
Relationships: Carol Danvers & James "Rhodey" Rhodes
Kudos: 5





	You Call Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Antivigilante](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antivigilante/gifts).



> Prompt: Write something about two or more characters (friends, acquaintances, or rivals) disagreeing on some sort of opinion. Like waffles vs pancakes or donut flavors or something.

Carol had let her hair grow a bit. She had it tied back in a plain black hair band, and it looked less like a ponytail and more like a paintbrush. The spiky, carefully messy style of it totally fit the punk-inspired outfit she was wearing: striped tee and leather jacket over a pair of painter's jeans. She even had her wide shades resting above her forehead. Rhodey couldn't get scenes from _The Breakfast Club_ out of his head every time he snuck a glance at her; of course, he knew she wouldn't get the reference.

Weirdly, being around Carol made him feel young and old at the same time. Somehow, explaining pop culture references became Rhodey's responsibility after Lang insisted on only showing her indie flicks and cult classics and Valkyrie admitted her knowledge was limited to Thor's video game library. Rhodey expected Peter to want the role, belonging to the Tik Tok generation and all, but the boy still stammered around her like he hadn't recently taken on an intergalactic conqueror in all-out war. And so Rhodey was the only one left with the interest and ability to effectively teach Carol the merits of social media. (She took to blogging with shocking aplomb, writing about mundane topics with a near journalistic quality.) Doing so reminded Rhodey of talking to _another_ Captain, which ignited a chain reaction of bittersweet nostalgia as he imagined how Tony would respond to some innocuous question or other. And so he felt appropriately younger than the woman but also older, wearier, as he counted battle scars physical and emotional.

His false sense of aging wasn't helped by the fact that Carol did _not_ age, simultaneously a perk of interstellar space travel and side effect of her Kree powers. Each time she returned from her travels, Rhodey's mind struggled to reconcile the amount of time that had passed with his clear-as-day observations that she _looked exactly as he imagined_. He had thought that having a Nordic god on speed dial would've accustomed him to concepts like near-immortality but. Well.

He wasn't _attracted_ to Thor.

The only feature that seemed to change on Carol was her hair. Which is why Rhodey paid so much attention to it. It was as much a clue to whatever whim Carol had or decade she was attempting to imitate as it was a testament to the passage of time.

"—hair everywhere," she said, breaking Rhodey out of his thoughts. She licked a rivulet of ice cream that was trailing down her cone as she looked up expectantly at him.

"What?" Rhodey said, pretending to be incredulous instead of like he wasn't paying attention to her half of the current debate they were having.

"Yeah, they shed everywhere. Cats are way better." She elbowed him lightly.

Rhodey smirked, catching up to where they were in the back-and-forth. "You kidding me? Those demons cough up furballs all over the place. Never have to worry about that with dogs."

"Yeah but they cough up other crap," Carol countered, quirking her eyebrows as she wrapped her lips around the top of her ice cream swirl.

"Well, at least they don't bring back dead animals as little _presents_ ," Rhodey argued. He took a bite of his cone, having finished his ice cream a while ago.

Carol scrunched her nose in distaste. "All right, you got me there." She leaned in conspiratorially and stage-whispered, "Can you believe Goose once left Fury a not-so-little present in his office? Do you know how many covert ops it took for him to forgive me?"

Rhodey clutched his side and laughed, throwing his head back and everything, as he tried to imagine Fury's face when he discovered some poor bird's carcass sitting neatly on his desk. Carol joined him, and they were certainly attracting attention from fellow park-goers, but he couldn't find it in him to care. "Well," he said when he could speak normally, "I rest my case, a dog it is."

The idea of adopting a pet, the basis for their friendly debate, prompted him to think briefly back to his childhood, to being pounced on by his furry companion, to receiving sloppy face kisses. To the mock funeral procession in his backyard. Rhodey grimaced. He'd forgotten about that drawback of pet ownership, especially with dogs.

"Maybe I'll get a plant instead," he said simply. He tossed out the rest of his cone as they approached a trash can. "Less needy."

"Oh, come on," Carol insisted around a mouthful of cone, "you need someone to keep you company, you're already –" She cut herself off and her eyes went wide with sudden worry.

"Yeah, I get it, I'm lonely," Rhodey sighed. "It's not like anyone's moving in any time soon." His eyes flicked over to Carol's, and for a brief moment he imagined the domestic life they might have had, apart from the constant imminent threats of global invasions. Then, he thought about how he used to occupy his time, and Tony's face flashed briefly behind his eyelids as he sighed again.

Carol said nothing, just reached out a hand to take his, and they continued walking. Rhodey was glad for the gesture. Small though it was, at least it wasn't empty as a plea for either of them to stay with the other would have been. Rhodey didn't think of it as sacrifice, _per se_ , but as the reality of their lives. Carol – _Captain Marvel_ – belonged in the stars. War Machine belonged on Earth. Those were the lots they drew in life, and he was infinitely grateful to find someone who understood that as well as he had.

Truth be told, though, Rhodey sometimes wondered what it would've been like for them to have met back then, before alter egos and S.H.I.E.L.D. and superpowers and super _suits_. He always imagined a military faction-related rivalry that would inevitably lead to a show of strength (arm wrestling was his usual go-to) before they laughed it off and swapped stories about basic training or first missions, then clinked a glass in memory of their allies and gratitude for their continued fortune. Actually, the more Rhodey thought about it, the more ironic it seemed that this was pretty close to how he and Carol had gotten to know each other in the first place. Maybe he really wouldn't have had it any other way.

"You know, cats aren't that needy," the blonde said with a coy smirk.

Rhodey rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah, but dogs will actually play with you."

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a reference to The Weeknd's "Earned It."


End file.
